Saturday, May 20, 2017

United Nations, which in its early days had only 51
member States, now has 193 members, having welcomed South Sudan as its 193rd
member in July 2011.

These 193 nations are scattered all over the world. They
have different and even opposing interests of their own as also different
viewpoints and ideas on various important matters. Criticism, oppositions,
rejections, counter proposals, opposing demands and sometimes even harsh
language are to be expected.

However, all States accept the obligations contained in
the United Nations Charter and, the judgment of the Organization.

In this setting, is it proper for any member State to bully
United Nations into doing whatever it wants done? And if any State
does so bully, should the UN meekly submit to such bullying and carry out the
wishes of the bully?

It is hoped that the answers to both these questions will
be a resounding, deafening NO.

And yet one of the member States did not only resort to
such bullying but bragged about it!

It happened in the vast hall where AIPAC, an organization
committed to strengthening, protecting and promoting the U.S.-Israel
relationship, held its annual meeting in March

As usual, the hall was jam packed with vociferous supporters.
The speakers included a long list of VIPs.

The lady in virgin white

At one point a lady stepped onto to the stage. She was
dressed immaculately in virgin white and walked confidently and with ease in
her fashionable high heels. The house broke into loud applause. It was none
other than the US Ambassador to the UN, Indian American Nikki Haley, the former
Governor of South Carolina who, though she formerly was in support of flying
the Confederate flag on the statehouse grounds, after the Charleston church
shooting led calls for the removal of the Confederate flag from the State
Capitol, and ultimately, in July 2015 signed a Bill to authorize removing the
Confederate flag from the flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol.

Her entrance was a sight to see. She put her hand to her
heart again and again and made a gesture as though she was throwing it to the
crowd, indicating her heart was with them!

Nikki Haley preparing to 'blow' her heart to the AIPAC crowd

Perhaps bearing in mind her Indian origin, she felt it
necessary to explain her high heels. She said, “I wear heels. It is not for a
fashion statement. It’s because if I see something wrong we are going to kick
them every single time”

A rather strange way of conducting affairs at UN. More
expected in Parliament houses of some countries we need not mention here but
not in UN. And certainly not from the ambassador of the US.

So we now know that Nikki Haley is all fired up and ready
to use her high heels to go on a kicking rampage in the UN. But what about the
bullying part?

According to her she made it clear to the UN that the
days of “Israel bashing” are over and that the US is not going to put up with
it anymore. When they did not fully understand what she was saying and tried to
put a Palestinian in one of the highest positions that had ever been given at
the U.N., the US said NO and had him booted out. But, according to Nikki, the
UN still did not get it and “tested” the US again.

Here, according to Nikki Haley, is what the UN did. “….a
ridiculous report, the Falk Report, came out. I don't know who the guy is or
what he's about, but he's got serious problems. Goes and compares Israel to an
apartheid state. So the first thing we do is we call the secretary general and
say, this is absolutely ridiculous. You have to pull it. The secretary general
immediately pulled the report. And then the director has now resigned”

The Palestinian who Nikki Haley claimed credit for
blocking is the former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The position he was to
be appointed was to the UN mission in Libya. He is known for his moderate
pragmatism and is highly regarded in American and also Israeli circles. Haley
did not dispute his qualifications. Explaining her blocking of him she said, “That
doesn't mean he wasn't a nice man. That doesn't mean he wasn't good to
America”.

Then why did she block him? “What it means is, until the
Palestinian Authority comes to the table, until the U.N. responds the way
they're supposed to, there are no freebees for the Palestinian Authority
anymore”. Obviously she wants the UN to behave as the US wants it to. And what
freebees was she referring to? Palestinians have received none.

Salam Fayyad the man Nikki Haley claims to have blocked

Her blocking of Salam Fayyad met with criticism even from
her peers. Former US ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro said “Stunningly dumb”.
And former UN ambassador Susan Rice wrote “Fayyad is first rate. The UN would
be lucky to have him in Libya or anywhere else.”

And the “guy” whom she said she did not know who he was
is none other than world renowned Richard Falk. He is the former United Nations
Human Rights Rapporteur in the Occupied Territories and knows more about what
is happening on the ground in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and Israel than Nikki
Haley will ever come to know. He is also a member of the TRANSCEND Network,
Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global and International Studies, an
international relations scholar, Albert G. Milbank Professor of International
Law and Practice Emeritus at Princeton University. He is author or editor of
some 60 books and hundreds of articles on international human rights law,
Middle East politics, environmental justice, and other fields concerning human
rights and international relations.

Nikki Haley may have thought she was being cute by
referring to him as some “guy” whom she did not know. But she only displayed
her abysmal ignorance.

Richard Falk

The report she blocked was commissioned by the UN
Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA). Its purpose was to
examine the argument for regarding Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ with respect
to the whole of the Palestinian people. Titled ‘Israeli Practices towards the
Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid’, it was coauthored by Richard
Falk and Virginia Tilley and ran into 74 pages, crammed with well researched
facts and views. It was further edited by Mr. Damien Simonis of ESCWA,
Conference Services Section.

The pressure put on the UN by Nikki Haley on behalf of
the U.S. had three disastrous consequences.

First, most regrettably, it made the Secretary General cave
in to the demands made on him by the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and
formally request ESCWA to withdraw the Falk-Tilley report.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

Second, it led to the resignation of ESCWA Executive
Secretary Rima Khalaf. The formal request by UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres that ESCWA withdraw the publication of the scholarly report that found
Israel guilty of apartheid put her in a dilemma. She could not possibly
withdraw, in good conscience, the said report.

AESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf.

At the same time, she was acutely aware that, working in
the UN Secretariat, she was subject to his authority. So she adopted the only
solution that was available. She resigned even though her term was to expire in
just two weeks more. She wrote in her letter of resignation: “my resignation is
therefore not intended for political pressure. It is simply because I feel it
my duty towards the people we serve, towards the UN and towards myself, not to
withdraw an honest testimony about an ongoing crime that is at the root of so
much human suffering. Therefore, I hereby submit to you my resignation from the
United Nations”.

Third, it ultimately led to the withdrawal of this
important report.

A triple win for Haley. UN members are, according to her,
now afraid to talk to her about Resolution 2334, Salaam Fayyad’s appointment
has been blocked and the Falk-Tilley report has been taken off the website of
the UN.

The speech was a great success for Nikki Haley. The
audience brought down the rafters with their applause again and again. Her
speech was studiously crafted to elicit just that effect. To win the hearts of
the AIPAC crowd, get name recognition with them, get their approval and support,
all with an eye for her future career

It was good for the AIPAC crowd. It was good for Nikki
Haley. But the question is, is it good for truth and justice and fight against
oppression? Is it good for the long suffering Palestinians or for USA or for
Israel itself?

In an earlier part of her speech, Nikki Haley said, “….leading
isn't saying and doing things when it's comfortable. Leading is saying and
doing things when it's not comfortable”

She needs to remind herself again and again of that and
act according to it.

I am sure her Sikh parents would be prouder of her if she
did that than even if she one day became the President of USA.

About Me

Gulamhusein A. Abba is an 88-year-old writer with more than 60 years in journalism. He is originally from Bombay (now Mumbai), where his writings have been published in almost all the important news media, in English, Urdu, Gujarati and Marathi, and where he functioned in various capacities, including reporter, news and political analyst, columnist, editor and publisher.
He was also a trade unionist,
peace and justice activist and took part in political activities.
As a trade unionist he organized the maritime petty officers and the film studio workers.
He founded and was the Chairman of the Rule of Law Committee and Taxi Users' Association
In the US, he is the chairman of Justice for Palestinians Committee, and, The Danbury Committee for World Peace.
In May of 2011, The Danbury Bar Association conferred on him the prestigious Honorary AMERICAN DREAM AWARD.